Starshine
by Pir8grl
Summary: There's no such thing as a simple outing for Clara and the Doctor... Aaaaaannnnddd...it's finally done. Please note, the bulk of this was written and posted before season 7.2 aired.
1. Chapter 1

"And here we are," the Doctor announced.

"Where?" Clara asked eagerly.

"It's a surprise," he replied, with a smug little smirk.

"Will I like it?"

"I certainly hope so, after all the trouble I've gone to," the Doctor replied, a bit huffily.

"The TARDIS did all the actual work," Clara teased.

"Shut up!" the Doctor replied, tossing Clara her red shawl.

* * *

Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, settling the soft woolen shawl about her shoulders. It did seem rather out of place for space travel, but it was very pretty, and the Doctor got sentimental about the oddest things. She looked up and stopped in her tracks.

The TARDIS had landed on the edge of a bustling market place, enclosed by an enormous transparent dome. Clara turned silently in place, trying to take it all in. The lanes were filled with so very many different kinds of life forms - so many shapes and colors, and an amazing babble of voices reached her ears. And the sky! The dome made it seem that she could just reach out her hand and touch…

"The stars…" she breathed, in wonder.

"Thought you might like it," the Doctor remarked, then braced himself as Clara flung herself into his arms. "What d'you want to see first?"

"Everything!"

* * *

"How is it that I can understand what everyone's saying?" Clara asked curiously, as they strolled among the vendor's stalls.

"It's a gift of the TARDIS. Just don't let it make you over confident, all right?"

"Me?" she asked, with wide-eyed innocence.

"I mean it, Clara. Please don't wander off. This is an open commerce center with God knows how many races wandering about, not necessarily all friendly, so please?"

Clara linked her arm through his. "Happy?"

"Ought to put a leash on you," he muttered.

"Oooh, look!" Clara squealed, dragging the Doctor off to a brightly colored booth, with a display of fluffy, white, monkey-like animals.

The Doctor snatched back Clara's hand. "Oi! Venomous! That would be why I told you not to wander off." He scooped up a purple, spidery looking creature. "Here, play with this if you must."

"It's slimy!" Clara protested, wrinkling her nose. "It…oh, it's purring!" she exclaimed delightedly.

"And turning pink," the Doctor pointed out, utterly captivated by Clara's smile, and the sparkle in her eyes.

"I don't suppose…?"

"We don't know if it's TARDIS broken."

Reluctantly, Clara handed the little creature back to the shopkeeper, a tentacled being enfolded in a shapeless, hooded robe.

"This is your first visit to Constantinople?" it hissed.

"Yes," Clara replied brightly.

"No," the Doctor answered simultaneously.

"Constantinople? Is that what this place is called?" Clara asked.

"Founded by human colonists. Crossroads of the universe, and all that," the Doctor supplied.

The shopkeeper held out the now-pink creature to Clara. "A gift for the lovely lady, in honor of her first visit."

"No, thank you," the Doctor said briskly, wrapping his arm around Clara's shoulders and steering her quickly away from the booth.

"What was that all about?" Clara demanded.

"Didn't your mum ever teach you not to take candy from strangers?"


	2. Chapter 2

Clara gazed up through the dome at the clouds of stars and shimmering space dust wheeling overhead. "The view is so beautiful here."

"It is. Almost makes up for the local residents."

"You're acting like a jealous boyfriend!"

"I'm acting like a Time Lord who has rather more experience traveling about the universe than you, young lady. Meet all sorts of dodgy types in a place like this," he added under his breath, crossing his arms and glaring about.

A very obviously female alien wearing a very slinky dress was seated at a nearby table. She raised her glass to the Doctor with a seductive smile.

"Very dodgy indeed," Clara agreed, grabbing the Doctor's hand and dragging him off down the lane.

* * *

"You beat me!" the Doctor exclaimed in disbelief.

"Three times," Clara replied smugly.

"At chess. You beat me at chess. No one's ever beat me at chess."

"Say hello to the girl who did."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, and looked at her oddly.

"What?" Clara asked.

He shook his head, dispelling Oswin's ghost. "Nothing. Never mind. Come along."

"Let's go look at the animals again!"

"No, no, no! We are not bringing home any strays!"

"Oh, come on! I just want to look - hey! Watch it!"

The slinky female alien that she'd noticed earlier shoved her way in between Clara and the Doctor.

"Stop, thief!" A group of local strong arm types followed in hot pursuit, knocking into the Doctor a second time.

"Well, that doesn't need any translation," the Doctor muttered, dusting himself off. "Clara?" He looked about, but she'd vanished into the milling crowd. "Clara!"

"All right, think," he muttered. "She wanted to see the animals again, and that's heading back towards the TARDIS anyway. Right." He headed back into the maze of shops.

Suddenly he spotted a splash of red - Clara's shawl - on the ground in front of the animal vendor's stall. He snatched it up and burst into the back room of the shop. Clara was sprawled on the floor, unconscious.

He slid to his knees and very gently lifted her into his arms. "Clara…Clara, talk to me…" Her head lolled against the Doctor's shoulder and her skin was clammy to the touch. There were two small wounds on her left wrist, and her hand was swollen and splotched greenish purple. He scanned her with his sonic screwdriver and frowned at the results.

The shopkeeper stood nearby, absently stroking one of the monkey creatures. "You were correct. They are quite venomous. Her species seems particularly vulnerable."

"I assume there's a reason for this?" he asked in a deadly quiet voice.

"A simple business transaction. I require a dioptase matrix crystal to bring my engines back online and escape this wretched hole. You will provide me with one, and I will provide you with the antidote for your friend."

"You could have just asked!" he retorted angrily.

"Perhaps. It is my experience that persuasion provides better results."

"What's to keep me from just taking my friend and running to the local authorities?"

"Because the local authorities work for me." The bully boys from the market place filed into the room.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Does it matter? You will do as I wish, or your friend will die."

The Doctor carefully laid Clara back down on the floor, and covered her with her shawl. He rose slowly to his feet and approached the shopkeeper until they stood toe to toe. "Tell me, have you by chance ever heard the story of the Battle of Demon's Run?"

"No."

"You might care to look it up, and find out what happens to people who hurt my friends."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor strode purposefully out of the shop. Wise beings took note of the anger in his eyes and prudently gave him a great deal of space. He ducked into a quiet alley and tried to will himself into some semblance of calm. "Shortest distance to a mistake…"

"You look like you could use some help."

"You again." The Doctor looked up to see the female alien they'd crossed paths with twice before.

"You can call me Scarlet," she informed him, gesturing towards her vivid red skin, a great deal of which was on display.

The Doctor blushed furiously and tugged at his collar to loosen it. "I can see why. What's not quite so clear is why you would want to help me."

"Maybe because I'm a jewel thief, and you're going to steal a jewel. Or maybe it's just because you're hot."

"I get that a lot."

"I'll just bet you do," she laughed.

The Doctor stared at Scarlet intently. "First, how do you know what I'm looking for? Second, why would I need a jewel thief to obtain a rubbish Earth crystal? And most important of all, why is it worth Clara's life?"

"Where are you from? Dioptase matrix crystals are worth more than diamonds used to be."

"What? It's a common Earth crystal. They sell them in tourist shops."

"Maybe a long time ago. A very, very, long time ago, but they're beyond rare now. Earthers destroyed most of them drilling in the ground for something called oil, whatever that may be. Old Sentro's been keen to get out of here for a long time now, but there's no crystals to be had for love or money. When I saw you without your friend, looking like to kill anything that crossed your path, it didn't take too much to figure things out."

"I suppose I could just take the TARDIS and run on back to Earth and fetch one," the Doctor mused.

"Why bother, when there's one right across town?"

"But you just said…"

"I said there were none to be had, not none at all. The richest bloke on this rock has a perfect dioptase matrix crystal locked up in his vault."

"And you know this because…?"

"Because I'm a jewel thief!"

"Right. I knew that."

* * *

The Doctor studied the imposing façade of the mansion. He checked the readings on the sonic. "Pressure points, alarms, trip wires. Splendid."

"I've got it sorted," Scarlet told him.

He reached out and grabbed her arm firmly. "Scarlet. This is my friend's life we're talking about. There is nothing - **nothing** - that means more to me, so you are going to tell me, right now, exactly how you plan to get inside there."

"I was planning on using the security code and walking right up to the front door, same as I always do. I have been in here before, you know."

"Doing what?"

Scarlet just gave him a smoldering look from under her lashes that caused the Doctor to squirm and fiddle with his collar again.

"Right. And what am I meant to be doing while you're doing…er…whatever it is you're doing?"

"Slip inside and stay out of the way until I'm finished."

"That's it? That's your plan?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "I'll nick the keys from our host, then we'll open the vault, replace the crystal with a fake, and be on our way."

"You've got this very well thought out," the Doctor said suspiciously.

Scarlet heaved an exasperated sigh. "I've been working on this for quite a while now. This just happens to be your lucky day."

"And you still haven't told me why you're helping me. You've obviously been planning this heist for quite some time…why would you just turn over the crystal to me?"

"It's getting the thing that's the fun part. It doesn't much matter to me what happens to it after. Besides, old Sentro's a mean sort…this rock'll be a nicer place once he blasts off of it. And maybe because I like you."


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor was really not enjoying being shut into a broom cupboard. Especially since it was a very small broom cupboard, necessitating his knees being tucked up under his chin. Aside from the physical discomfort, he chafed at the delay in getting help for Clara. He'd just about made up his mind to go looking for the vault on his own when the door opened.

"The broom cupboard?" Scarlet inquired, with raised eyebrow.

"You found me, didn't you? Took your own sweet time," he added under his breath.

"Come on, then…the vault's this way."

Scarlet led him through the elaborate maze of the mansion to a grand library, the sort that the Doctor noticed instantly and derisively was just for show - row upon row of beautiful, leather-bound books, completely untouched.

"Behind the portrait in the library? Really?"

"I'm not the one who installed it," Scarlet laughed.

She swung the painting aside on hidden hinges, and started fiddling with a small electronic device that the Doctor took to be some sort of lock-deciphering contraption. His patience with the trappings of a bad mystery novel worn to the breaking point, the Doctor abruptly moved Scarlet aside and sonic'd the vault open.

"Now, just get what we need so we can be on our way and save my friend."

"If you're ever looking for a business partnership -" Scarlet offered suggestively.

"Scarlet."

With a little smirk, she subsided and began rifling through the contents of the vault.

The Doctor fussed, tapping his foot impatiently.

Scarlet noticed. "What were you thinking, bringing your friend to a place like this?"

The Doctor paused and looked up, as though he could see through the ceiling and the roof, out through the dome. "The starscape, as seen from this grubby little place, is incomparable. I wanted to show her something beautiful. I just wanted…to make her smile."

"You talk like a man in love," Scarlet observed.

"It's complicated."

"No, it's not. Life is short. When the universe hands you a bit of happiness, you take it, and you hold on tight, for as long as you can."

"You're really rather clever for a small time jewel thief stuck in a backwater trading post."

"I know," Scarlet replied, holding up the crystal.


	5. Chapter 5

"That bag is doing a great deal of clanking," the Doctor observed mildly.

"A girl's gotta make a living somehow," Scarlet replied cheekily. "Especially seeing as how I'm just handing the matrix crystal over to you."

"Scarlet, how much trouble is all this likely to land you in?"

"I've been in trouble all my life," she laughed in response.

"I'm serious. Does helping me put you in danger? Because you could come with us…"

"I'll be fine. I'm used to making my own way. Besides, three's a crowd, yes?"

The Doctor flushed and ran a finger under his collar again. "It's not like that, and even if it was, the least I can do is give you a lift…I can drop you anywhere you like, no trouble whatsoever."

"You're sweet, but I'll be fine." She spied the lane where Sentro's shop was located and made to turn, but the Doctor continued straight on. "Doctor? We want to go this way."

"Yes, we do, but not yet. First, we want to go this way."

"Why?"

"We need to pick up a bit of insurance."

"Your friend doesn't have all that much time," Scarlet reminded him.

The Doctor stopped and turned, and something in his eyes made Scarlet fall back a pace.

"I am a Time Lord, Scarlet. I have nothing **_but_** time."

* * *

"Hello, Sentro," the Doctor said with deceptive mildness.

"Guards!"

"Not coming, I'm afraid. Pressing business on the other side of this rock. Seems someone told them you were planning on leaving without paying them."

Sentro's three eyes narrowed beneath the cowl of his robe. "You do realize that this is costing your friend precious time?"

"You do realize that if anything - **_anything at all _**- happens to her…well, let's just say, they don't call me The Oncoming Storm for nothing."

Sentro looked into those ancient eyes and suddenly had the uncommon good sense to feel very much afraid.

"Now. The cure for my friend," the Doctor demanded.

"The dioptase matrix crystal," Sentro countered.

The Doctor's eyes slid to Clara's still form. "Fine." He pulled a small, ebony box from his pocket and tossed it negligently to the tentacled alien.

Sentro caught the container and rattled it, hearing a satisfying clink from within.

"The cure," the Doctor repeated, his voice all the more dangerous for its lack of volume.

Sentro barely looked up from fiddling with the catch on the box. "I'm afraid there is none," he reported maliciously.

The Doctor went utterly still. "I'm afraid there's no cure for that, either."

Sentro shrieked once, as the memory worm sank its greedy fangs into his hand the first time. After the third bite, he really didn't notice much at all.

The Doctor hurriedly crouched beside Clara, gathering her body into his arms. "Scarlet, get in here!"

She burst into the room, stepping carefully over Sentro. "Well, I can honestly say, he's never looked more pleasant."

"Never mind that right now. Do you have the box I gave you?"

"Right here," she said, producing the twin of the box the Doctor had given to Sentro from the depths of her bag.

"Good. We might need to trade that."

"What for? Did you get the cure for your friend?"

"No. He said there wasn't one."

"Calm down," Scarlet admonished. "I can count the number of times Sentro's told the truth on one hand. What bit her?"

The Doctor waved his hand at the cages full of monkey creatures. "One of those."

"Of all the times for him to take up honesty."

The Doctor looked up from his frantic examination of Clara.

"How is she?" Scarlet asked.

"Not good. Not good at all. Think. Is there any sort of medical facility here?" the Doctor asked desperately.

"You're joking."

"Scarlet, do I look even remotely like I'm joking?"

"There is one thing you could try," Scarlet replied, turning to the display tanks. "Here." She held out one of the slimy, spidery creatures. "The substance that they secrete…I've heard that it has some sort of medicinal properties. Worth a try, isn't it?"

The Doctor gently set the small animal on top of the bite marks on Clara's wrist. As he watched, the small creature oozed a bit more, then started to change color again, this time green. The swelling and mottling started to recede from Clara's hand. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her. "It's working!" The little creature gave a single, rusty sounding purr, then dropped off of Clara's arm. He scanned it hurriedly. "It's not the slime…or maybe it is, but not **_just_** the slime. The creature actually seems to have absorbed the venom." It struggled weakly for a few seconds more, then went limp. "I'm so sorry, little fellow. Thank you. And thank you, Scarlet…" But she was gone, with the box containing the real crystal, of course.

Just at that moment, Clara began to stir weakly in his arms. "Hey…there you are…welcome back."

"Have I been somewhere?" Clara asked dazedly.

"You went wandering."

"Do me a favor, would you? Spare me the lecture until my head stops pounding."

The Doctor just hugged her tight against his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Come on…let's get you back to the TARDIS."

* * *

Clara sat quietly while the Doctor finished bandaging her arm. "Go on. Say it. You were right. I shouldn't have wandered off."

"It wasn't entirely your fault. And you're all right. That's all that matters," he replied quietly. "There." He dropped a light kiss on top of the bandage.

"Why d'you put up with me?" Clara wondered.

The Doctor stared off into some unimaginable distance for a long, long moment before he spoke. Clara was suddenly struck by how **_old_** his eyes were, in that boyish face.

"You make me feel young again," he finally replied, still holding her hand. "A thousand years of wandering the universe can make a body feel old…so very, very old. I was almost ready to give it all up, and let the Silence kill me, but my friends pulled me back from that particular abyss. Then I...lost…Amy and Rory, and I vowed I would never again involve myself with people, never let anyone else get close enough to me to be hurt…"

"Or hurt you," Clara murmured.

"And then I met you. And no matter how much I pushed you away, you kept coming back, with your questions, and your never-ending curiosity, and your laughter…your…humanity. When I see things through your eyes, it's like the entire universe is brand new again."

"Perhaps that's why the universe keeps bringing us together."

"Perhaps." The Doctor pulled Clara close to him and wrapped his arms about her.

"What's this?" she asked, sliding both arms around his waist.

"Just me…holding on tight…for as long as I can…"


End file.
